STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Twelve garden gnomes kidnapped in western Sweden a month ago have been found in a snowy forest, standing in a ring beside a lighted bonfire and a small hut, Swedish news agency TT reported.

"It looked very cozy," Bo Larsson, a police officer in the town of Kil, near Karlstad, told TT on Friday.

The gnomes mysteriously vanished from their gardens just before Christmas.

A letter from the "Garden Gnomes Liberation Army" later claimed responsibility for their disappearance, explaining that the dwarfish figures had pined for freedom.

Larsson said the gnomes had, however, declined to collaborate in the investigation.

"We've tried to squeeze them for information, but they're staying mum," he said.

The police station extended its opening hours on Friday so owners could come by and claim their property.